Richard Hammond doesn’t understand why gay people “feel the need” to come out

Richard Hammond has argued that it’s “old-fashioned” for people to publicly come out as gay.

The former Top Gear presenter landed himself in hot water earlier this year when, during an episode of Amazon series The Grand Tour, he suggested that straight men shouldn’t eat ice cream.

“I don’t eat ice cream, it’s something to do with being straight,” he said at the time. “There’s nothing wrong with it, but a grown man eating an ice cream is a bit that way rather than that way.”

Now, in an interview with The Times, the TV personality has attempted to defend his comments, but has somehow managed to rile people up even more than before.

“Look, anyone who knows me knows I wasn’t being serious, that I’m not homophobic. Love is love, whatever the sex of the two people in love,” he said.

“It may be because I love in a hideously safe and contained middle-class world, where a person’s sexuality is not an issue. But when I hear of people in the media coming out, I think, ‘Why do they even feel the need to mention it?’

“It is so old-fashioned to make a big deal of it. That isn’t even an interesting thing to say at a dinner party any more.”

Unsurprisingly, the backlash on social media has been swift, as LGBTQ people tried to teach Hammond exactly why they still need to come out.

So @RichardHammond doesn't understand why gay people feel the need to come out publicly… How about to show the thousands struggling with their sexuality, self harming & attempting suicide they’re not alone & there’s nothing wrong with them. Stick to driving cars, Richard.

Why do we feel the need to mention it, @RichardHammond? Because someone like @MarkFosterSwim coming out provides a role model for a young LGBT person who might be struggling to come to terms with their sexuality.

Actually so many people I know are in the process of coming out, or are just too scared to, and people like @RichardHammond need to shut up, because the potential damage they can inflict is enormous. This has riled me.